


The Value of Absence

by jusrecht



Series: Everybody Loves Kyuhyun [3]
Category: Super Junior
Genre: M/M, kyuhyuk bromance ftw, more like bromance actually, tho hyuk is in denial
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-01
Updated: 2015-01-01
Packaged: 2018-03-04 16:08:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3073973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jusrecht/pseuds/jusrecht
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hyukjae hates Kyuhyun's habit of singing in the bathroom. He really does.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Value of Absence

At first, it irritated Hyukjae to no end.

Imagine coming home at nine in the morning from an all-night recording and stumbling into bed completely burned out—only to be woken up by a loud belting from the direction of the bathroom twenty minutes later.

‘Pissed-off’ totally didn’t describe it.

Sometimes he would be too exhausted to do much beyond burrowing his head even deeper under a mountain of pillows. Other times, he would yell furiously (and incoherently) until the blasted singing finally ceased and left him in peace. 

And then there were times when Kyuhyun obviously decided to be the biggest asshole in the universe by increasing his voice even louder instead, despite Hyukjae’s shouts of protests. There could only be two possible courses of action in response to something so diabolical. Hyukjae could either drag himself out of bed and curse and kick at the door until it finally stopped, or—as usually happened—simply give up and vow vengeance on the Devil incarnate that was his maknae.

For one in their profession, an uninterrupted sleep was rarity in itself. If he had one, then it was a completely unexpected and wonderful blessing.

Which was why Hyukjae found himself beyond pleased—if slightly perplexed—when it began to happen more often.

And then it began to happen _even_ more often.

Soon enough, it was a regular occurrence. No thoughtless singing ever interrupted his sleep anymore. No stupid reason forced him to abandon rest and shout at an impertinent _dongsaeng_. No one—absolutely _no one_ —made incorrect use of the bathroom for any vocal practice. 

And yet, for some unfathomable reasons, this was starting to bother him a bit. 

Which was ridiculous. He loved his sleep peaceful and free of disturbance. It was a particular form of bliss which he couldn’t find in anything else. There was absolutely no reason why he should want it disturbed by some loud, tactless singing. 

Right?

 

.

 

“Where have you been?”

“Musical practice, then dinner.” Kyuhyun bounded into the living room and claimed the empty spot next to him in the couch, a huge smile gracing his face. “It was the most awesome Italian food I’ve ever had.”

Hyukjae frowned—then rose to his feet and went into his room, leaving a bemused Kyuhyun alone.

 

.

 

“Where have you been?”

“Radio Star recording,” Kyuhyun answered, his voice scratchy with fatigue. “Why?”

Hyukjae squinted in the dark hallway. It was three in the morning, almost four. No stupid singing had woken him up, and yet for some reason, he was in an incredibly foul mood.

“Do you even know how late this is?”

Kyuhyun eyed him weirdly. “What?”

“It’s fucking four in the morning. And we have to be at the airport in three hours.”

“I know, but the recording ran late.”

“Sure you didn’t spend hours drinking with someone after the recording?”

Kyuhyun’s expression twisted into disbelief. “What the hell, hyung? It wasn’t my fault that the recording took a long time.”

Pursing his lips, Hyukjae returned to his room, annoyed because he knew perfectly well that it wasn’t Kyuhyun’s fault.

And yet he was pissed off.

 

.

 

“Thought you moved out or something.”

Kyuhyun threw his shoes into some random corner and disappeared into his bedroom, shouting all the way, “I’m going home for the weekend!”

Hyukjae’s scowl deepened. He didn’t even bother to look up when Kyuhyun zoomed past once more with a hollered ‘bye!’, slamming the front door in his wake.

He spent the next six hours in the practice room, dancing his frustration away.

 

.

 

So maybe things had been a little too quiet for his liking.

Not that Lee Hyukjae was ever going to admit it to himself, let alone to the source of his irritation.

“Oh, so you still live here, don’t you?”

Hyukjae glared at the younger man, who was sitting at the kitchen table, innocently eating a bowl of cereal.

Kyuhyun raised an eyebrow. “Did you wake up at the wrong side of the bed?”

“At least I woke up in _my_ bed,” Hyukjae retorted.

“What does that mean? You think I didn’t?”

“Wouldn’t surprise me,” he murmured under his breath, fully aware that Kyuhyun could catch every word.

Kyuhyun’s eyes narrowed. That should have sounded a warning bell in Hyukjae’s mind, but for one reason or another, the danger didn’t sink in until he found himself backed against the refrigerator.

“Alright.” Kyuhyun slammed one hand on the refrigerator door, for once exploiting his superior height to intimidate. “What?” 

“What?” Hyukjae barked back, meeting Kyuhyun’s glare head on.

“You’re pissed at me, so now I’m asking why. What did I do? Because I’m not aware that I did anything to deserve this treatment from you.”

Hyukjae snorted. “As hard as it is to believe for someone with your ego, you don’t actually have that much influence on my mood.”

Kyuhyun ignored his taunt completely. “Do you think I’ve been spending too much time away?” he pressed on instead. “You think I’m neglecting my work?”

“I didn’t say that,” Hyukjae shot back, discomfort swelling in his stomach. Everybody knew that despite his chronic unpunctuality, Kyuhyun always managed to show up without fail—and, most importantly, do the job well.

“Then what?”

Hyukjae scowled, trying to elude words that were clogging up his throat. “You’re so smart. You figure it out.” 

Kyuhyun shot him a look of pure disbelief. “Really? We’re playing this game now?”

Hyukjae matched it with a fiercer scowl. “Maybe if you _actually_ spent some time here, you would see why.”

There was a long moment of silence while Kyuhyun stared at him. When he finally spoke again, his tone was subdued by wonder. “Are you… wait, are you saying that you miss me?”

Hyukjae’s jaw dropped. “What– no! Where does _that_ come from?”

“You miss me.” A smirk bloomed across Kyuhyun’s lips. “Really, _hyung_ , I’m touched.”

“No, I don’t!” Hyukjae burst out, embarrassment giving his voice all sorts of uncontrollable high pitches. “It’s nothing like that!”

“That’s really sweet,” Kyuhyun continued, completely ignoring him. “Kinda creepy, but sweet.”

“Listen to me, you fucker!”

“Thank you, I really appreciate it, _hyung_ ,” Kyuhyun nodded solemnly—and for one crazy moment, Hyukjae thought that he was about to be kissed, but Kyuhyun only shot him another smirk and sauntered off, carrying his bowl of cereal into his room. 

Left alone, Hyukjae stood frozen and flustered in front of the refrigerator until Ryeowook dashed in.

 

.

 

The next afternoon, he was woken up by the sound someone’s belting his heart out in the bathroom.

“… _oneul babocheoreom geu jarieseo inneungeoya_ –”

“Shut up!”

“ _SARANGHAEJIMAAAAAAAAAAAAN~_ ”

“FUCKING BRAT, I WILL KILL YOU!”

“ _I love you too, hyuuuung~_ ”

Hyukjae swore loudly into the pillow, calling Kyuhyun all sorts of derogatory names that he could think of.

If he was also grinning so wide that it hurt while he did that, well, at least no one was watching.

 

**_End_ **  



End file.
